Baseball Headline

Freshman
Ryan Larson (Orlando, Fla.) delivered the game-winning single with two
out in the 10th inning to lift No. 12 Florida (30-15/15-6 SEC) to a 6-5 victory
over Missouri (19-24/6-15 SEC) and a sweep of the weekend series on Sunday
afternoon at McKethan Stadium. The Gators’ eighth-consecutive win in league
play gives them a two-game lead in the SEC race over No. 18 Alabama (29-15/13-8
SEC) and No. 13 Ole Miss (33-12/13-8 SEC). UF visits the Crimson Tide next
weekend.

Missouri
sophomore righty Peter Fairbanks (4-5) retired the first two Gators in the 10h
inning before junior Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) (2-for-5) singled up
the middle. After Powers moved into scoring position with his first stolen base
of the season, the Tigers intentionally walked freshman A.J. Puk (Cedar
Rapids, Iowa). Larson (2-for-2) stepped to the plate and roped a single into
center field that brought Powers across with the winning run. UF improved to
6-2 in extra-inning games and boosted their record to 12-6 in one-run contests
this year. Junior left-hander Bobby Poyner (4-3) worked four scoreless
innings, scattering two hits, to collect the victory.

The
Tigers put their first two runners of the game aboard against sophomore left-hander
Danny Young (Boca Raton, Fla.) but came away empty-handed. Redshirt
senior Eric Anderson (2-for-5, two RBI) reached on an error and junior Brett
Peel was hit by a pitch, however, Young had senior Dillon Everett hit into a
4-6-3 double play and senior Dylan Kelly ground out to first base.

Florida
grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the inning on a ground-rule RBI double by
junior Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) (2-for-5) and an RBI grounder by
junior Braden Mattson (San Antonio, Texas). With one down, sophomore Richie
Martin (Brandon, Fla.) drew a walk and sophomore Harrison Bader
(Bronxville, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch from junior starter John Miles. Gushue
roped his team-leading 13th double to right field to bring home Martin and
Mattson plated Bader with a ground ball to shortstop.

Missouri
used a two-out rally in the second inning to take a 3-2 advantage. Young
retired the first two batters of the frame before walking junior Jake Ivory and
yielding a single into left center by senior Kendall Keeton (3-for-5) that gave
the Tigers runners on the corners. Freshman Jake Ring singled up the middle to
cut the deficit in half and Anderson moved the visitors in front with a double
down the left-field line that prompted a pitching change. Sophomore Eric
Hanhold (Palm Harbor, Fla.) replaced Young (1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R) and walked
Peel before Missouri executed a double steal for two runners in scoring position.
The right-hander had Everett fly out to end the frame.

The
Gators answered with the tying run in the home part of the inning on an RBI
single by freshman John Sternagel (Rockledge, Fla.) after freshman Buddy
Reed (Finksburg, Md.) had reached on a one-out error and stole second base.

A
leadoff single in the fourth by Keeton brought Pukin for Hanhold (1.1
IP, 2 H). Ring advanced his teammate with a sacrifice bunt and a grounder by
Anderson nudged Keeton to third base before Puk struck out Peel.

Everett
started the fifth with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on
a wild pitch before a double to left field by Kelly gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
Junior Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) took over for Puk (1.0 IP, 2 H,
1 R) and retired Howard on a fly ball before uncorking a wild pitch that moved
Kelly to third base. Shafer rebounded to strike out sophomore Josh Lester and
had Ivory ground out to preserve the 4-3 count.

Missouri
added another run in the sixth inning to take a 5-3 lead. Shafer recorded the
first two outs before yielding a flare into center field by Anderson. After a
wild push moved Anderson to second, a throwing error on Peel’s infield hit by
Sternagel enabled Anderson to score.

In
the bottom of the sixth, the Gators knotted the game at 5-5 and had the bases
full with one out but could not pull ahead. Martin led off with a bunt single
and went to third on a throwing error on the play by Howard and Bader followed
with an RBI single up the middle to narrow the gap to 5-4. Gushue stroked a
single into right center that pushed Bader to third and the Tigers summoned
sophomore Breckin Williams for Miles (5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER). Mattson tied the
game with a base-knock up the middle and a sacrifice attempt by Powers instead
forced Gushue at third base for the first out. A single into left field by Puk
loaded the bases with one down and junior Keaton Steele replaced Williams (0.1
IP, 2 H). The right-hander had junior pinch hitter Mike Fahrman (Tampa,
Fla.) ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep the game tied.

Florida
loaded the bases again in the seventh with one out but was unable to score. Sternagel
and Turgeon drew consecutive walks to start the frame and were sacrificed over
on Martin’s sixth sacrifice bunt of the campaign. Bader was plunked to fill the
bags with one down and Steele had Gushue hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double
play.

Keeton
reached on an error by Martin to begin the eighth and was bunted over to second
base by Ring. Poyner had Anderson fly to center field and Peel ground out to
keep the contest tied.

Larson
led off the Gators’ ninth with a single up the middle and Sternagel laid down a
bunt before Turgeon was walked intentionally. Although a fly ball into right
field by Martin advanced Larson to third base, Bader flew out to center field
to provide the fans with free baseball.

In
the 10th, Ivory walked with one down and Keeton followed with a single through
the left side of the infield. Poyner escaped the jam by having Ring hit into a
4-6-3 double play.

Postgame
Quotes

Head
coach Kevin O’Sullivan

On
outfielder Ryan Larson’s game-winning hit in the 10th inning:

“I’m
really happy for Ryan. He’s worked awfully hard. That’s a tough position to be
in. Obviously, it was a frustrating game in a lot of ways. We had some
opportunities, but, all in all, I was proud of the way we battled today. We
didn’t strike out at all today and I think we only had one strikeout yesterday.
We battled at the plate and I’m really happy for Ryan. He had two good at-bats
and got on base twice. That’s not an easy situation to come into and be able to
hold your composure and put a good swing on the ball. That’s really all you’re
looking for. You’re not necessarily looking for somebody to get a hit. You just
want to get a good at-bat and I thought it was a really good at-bat.”

On
the team’s success with extra-inning games (6-2):

“We
have a lot of pitching depth, and when you get to a game like today we run some
pretty good arms out there. I think that if we could just keep it close on the
pitching side of things, offensively we will end up getting a run. I think that
we have a little bit more depth than most people.”

Freshman
outfielder Ryan Larson

On
his game-winning hit:

“It
was awesome. It was a great feeling to end it there. I knew coming up (to bat)
with two outs, it was either now or never. It was great.”

On
his role off the bench:

“It
was cool to get an at bat. I knew (Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan) had the
confidence in me at the end. I know I’ve been coming off for defensive plays,
but whatever I have to do to help the team win, I’m going to do.”

Junior
first baseman Zack Powers

On
scoring the game-winning run:

“That’s
awesome for a freshman to come out and help us get a sweep by getting his first
walk-off (hit) here. He did a great job staying with his approach.”

On
his at bat in the 10th inning:

“I
was thinking I just had to get on base. I did take a couple of hacks at the
ball, but I tried my best to not strike out and to just get a runner on. I
ended up battling and hitting one right up the middle.”

Junior
left-hander Bobby Poyner

On
Ryan Larson’s game-winning hit:

“That
was great. That’s college baseball and a lot of energy. (Ryan) Larson came up
huge there. It was only a matter of time. Larson did it, and we couldn’t be
happier.”

On
his pitching today to close out the game:

“It
was hot; it was a long day. I was just trying to make pitches to keep us in the
ballgame and keep them from scoring. I knew if I kept it at a 5-5 score, we
would be alright.”

Game Notes

·The
Gators improved to 6-2 in extra innings and are now 12-6 in one-run games.

·Florida
scored first in all three games of the series.

·Taylor
Gushue’s
ground-rule double in the first inning gave him a team-leading 36 RBI. He
collected his team-leading 16th multiple-hit game of the year.

·Zack
Powers raised
his hitting streak to nine games with a one-out single in the fourth inning and
scored the game-winning run.

·The
Orange and Blue has captured eight-straight SEC games and now leads the league
by two games following Alabama’s 9-3 loss at South Carolina.

·UF
is 5-2 in league series this season.

·In
conference games this season at home, the Gators are 11-1. UF has not dropped a
home conference game since March 16 against Arkansas (9-3).

·UF
improved to 21-8 at McKethan Stadium and finished 11-6 in the month of April.

·Ryan
Larson’s
game-winning RBI was his fourth of the season. Florida has eight last-at-bat
wins this year.

·Larson
went 2-for-2 after entering the game to start the seventh and recorded his
third career multi-hit game.

·Powers
extended his hitting streak to a career-matching nine games. Powers now has
three multi-hit games this year

·Bobby
Poyner
earned his fourth win of the season after scattering two hits and allowing zero
runs in four innings of work. He has not allowed a run in 8.2 innings of work.

·The
Gators were aggressive on the basepaths, going a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen base
opportunities. Powers’ first steal of the year set up the Gators’ game-winning
play.

·Braden
Mattson
drove in a pair of runs and now has six multi-RBI games as a Gator.

·UF
did not strike out this afternoon for the first time this season.

·Richie
Martin
and Harrison Bader each scored a pair of runs. Martin leads the team
with 35 runs scored.

Up
Next

The
Gators will return to action on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa for the
opener of a three-game series with No. 18 Alabama (29-15/13-8 SEC). The contest
will be carried on CSS, Channels 1259 HD and 259 on Cox Communications Cable in
Gainesville.

Follow
the Gators

Live
stats for each game are available on GatorZone.com
and fans can also receive updates of each game on @GatorZoneBB, the official
Twitter account of the Gator baseball team.